SE Asian Brands Shift Budgets to Creators Amid "AI Slop" Flood
AI tools like Sora and Vibes flood feeds with “AI slop.” Brands are seeing engagement drop. Here’s why emotional, human-made content is making a comeback.
Brands across Southeast Asia are redirecting marketing budgets toward creator-led storytelling and away from AI-generated content, as consumer preference for authentic, emotionally resonant campaigns intensifies heading into 2026.
Budget Recalibration for Human-to-Human
Hootsuite's 2025 Digital Trends Report found that 82% of Southeast Asia's consumers prefer brands that engage emotionally, prompting marketers to reconsider content strategies heavily dependent on synthetic material. Separately, 74% of marketers now plan to increase investment in influencer-created stories.
The shift comes as AI tools like OpenAI's Sora and Meta's Vibes have saturated digital channels with what industry observers call "AI slop." This is impersonal, mass-produced content lacking emotional depth. While these platforms enable rapid video production and campaign visualization, brands report diminishing engagement returns.
Shermaine Wong, CEO of Singapore-based Cult Creative, emphasized the distinction between efficiency and emotional impact, stating in a recent op-ed, "AI can enhance efficiency, but only humans can scale emotion."
Leighton Cosseboom
Measurable Returns Drive Strategic Pivot
Cult Creative's campaign for Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral demonstrates the business case for human-led content. The agency's lifestyle-driven storytelling approach, which prioritized real experiences and user-generated content over synthetic production, generated over 800,000 views and increased booking inquiries for the hotel property.
The campaign initially achieved 2.8 million views and RM100,000 (~US$22,500) in ticket sales. After pivoting toward family and staycation narratives with sensory storytelling elements, the revised strategy delivered the influx of views alongside enhanced brand visibility and direct booking conversions.
Across the broader Asia-Pacific region, 80% of consumers now expect brands to deliver transformative experiences rather than simply selling products, according to regional consumer research. This expectation gap has accelerated the move toward creator partnerships that can translate cultural moments into authentic connections.
Leighton Cosseboom
Regional Variations Shape Implementation
Market-specific preferences are influencing how brands deploy creator strategies. In South Korea, character-based intellectual property campaigns leveraging nostalgia have driven emotional engagement during periods of economic uncertainty. Urban markets like Hong Kong and Singapore emphasize exclusive creator collaborations, while Bangkok has adopted influencer-led social commerce models.
Indonesia's Gen Z demographic shows a particular preference for emotionally charged, influencer-driven content over AI-generated material. However, India presents a more complex picture where Gen Z audiences display both curiosity and suspicion toward AI-produced ads, suggesting hybrid approaches may be necessary in certain markets.
The budget reallocation does not represent a complete abandonment of AI tech. Instead, brands are pursuing hybrid models where AI handles personalization and data analysis while human creators ensure cultural nuance and emotional resonance.
This approach addresses both efficiency requirements and the authenticity demands that Southeast Asian consumers increasingly prioritize. As marketing leaders finalize 2026 budgets, the data suggests that emotional connection, rather than production speed, will determine content performance across high-growth Asian markets.
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